BREEDING WITH

KIM DEAL

INTERVIEWED IN JUNE 1991 BY AMAZING ANDY BARDING

Everyone’s favourite bassist, Kim Deal, was only too happy to spare a few minutes with this ROCK A MY SOUL correspondent...

In fact, she gave us 45 minutes of hardcore chat, for just the cost of a pint of lager (which vanished pretty quickly!) and roughly a million fags.

We caught up with Kim outside the Brixton Academy pre-gig on the second night. In fact, Kim was running a bit late, but didn’t seem too worried.

She was happy to sit and chat about the band’s recent activities, secret gigs, the new album [Trompe le Monde hadn’t been released at this point - GB], English audiences, her pride of the Breeders' recent work, etc etc, and provide us with a plethora of information which you’ll find here.

We were content to listen to her.

Okay, the Gary Smith thing...

What’s the hidden song, Gary? Tell us, tell us... give it up, maaaaan!

You don’t know what the song is?

No I don’t.

The stuff that was on the original sessions from Roxbury, that wasn’t on the Sounds free EP and...

There’s some stuff that wasn’t yeah. Like a version of Here Comes Your Man that was never released.

Is that ever likely to come out?

Maybe if it comes out like Gary was talking, like if somebody bootlegs it and puts it out.

No plans for 4AD to put it out?

No. Most of the tracks have been put out, rerecorded and put out on Doolittle...

Like Here Comes Your Man?

Yeah... and there’s some other ones.

Tell me about the new album. Has that been recorded yet?

Ummmm. We’re still doing it. Gil, our producer, is convinced that if he doesn’t get it done by July 15, somebody’s going to be hired to assassinate him. Because it’s cost something like a million pounds! Because we started in LA and then didn’t finish, because we decided to do this six week tour, ‘coz the festivals and stuff are fun to play in the Springtime. And the weather’s nice... usually.

So it was no big deal that we didn’t finish it in LA, because it’s no big deal. Nobody is itching to have one out.

But, you know, the thing is - and this is the whole story - this September or October, there’s a Prince album out and then, like, a Michael Jackson album out, and then some other big band’s out. So the record company, 4AD, hesitates to release it in September, when it probably will come out

Do the think Pixies fans are going to spend all their money on the new Michael Jackson album?

I don’t know. Maybe they’re thinking the other way round which is even worse. Maybe they are trying to break us into Michael Jackson’s audience. But they’re not going to be able to because Michael Jackson’s audience are going to be busy buying the Michael Jackson album. Who knows...

Is the album going to be that mainstream then?

No [laughs]. It doesn’t have any singles on it. Well, Planet of Sound, but then, I mean, it says “fuck” - that’s not a real single. You could release it as a single, you know, but it’s not going to do it - you know what I mean?

I was surprised to hear that on the radio, with that very rude word in it.

Yeah. A lot of the time the DJs didn’t notice it.

Can you take me through some of the tracks that are likely to be on the album. Motorway to Roswell - is that likely to be there?

Yeah. Subbacultcha... you see, it’s almost done, we did some work in Paris also...

Subbacultcha’s going to be on there?

Yeah. Subbacultcha. That’s one of the ones from The Purple Tape. You don’t have The Purple Tape do ya? Do ya have The Purple Tape? We call it The Purple Tape. Gary’s old tape.

Er...(thinks hard for one second whether to confess to owning the thing). It sort of leaked out. But it’s not brilliant quality.

Subbacultcha’s one of them. Maybe that’s the hidden track he’s talking about. Maybe he doesn’t know we’re going to do it on this album. Ha! Ha! Ha!

What’s all this with Black and UFOs?

I don’t know. If fascinates him. I have no idea.

How much does it fascinate him? Has he got loads of books?

He’s got books and stuff. He gets Omni and those series books. You know, Magic Places.

He was into the sky writing... not sky writing. You know, when you look down on a field of corn and there’s earth lines. There’s some neat pictures.

How did Bob [Santiago, Joey’s brother] get in on the band?

I think the main reason was because Charles wanted to be more Nick Cave-y in a way, to kind of not have to play guitar every single song. To kind of scare people a little bit, you know.

It would be fun on stage if he wasn’t trapped to the mike. You know, take the mike off and sing. I think that’s what he wanted to do. But he’s not really doing that, he’s playing all the time, and Bob usually just plays the acoustic songs, just to fill it out more.

But he’s nice. He turned 21 on the tour. Yeah, he’s nice.

Is he going to be a permanent Pixie now?

No.

Can you tell me about any of the other tracks on the album? Any titles?

Um... Trompe Le Monde. That’s probably the name of the album. It’s the first song on it, and it comes from trompe l’euvre - to fool the eye, to trick the world. Um... Trompe le Monde, The Sad Punk, Alec Eiffel... you’ve got the Eiffel Tower, architecture (laughs).

the little chorus at the end is “Oh Alexander, I’m...something like leaning, or sitting (starts to sing) underneath the archway of aerodynamics. Oh, Alexander I’m sitting beneath the archway of aerodynamics.

What about the new tracks you’ve been playing live, what are they?

Um... Motorway to Roswell, Planet of Sound.

The one bout extinction, is that The Sad Punk?

Sad Punk, yeah. I like that one. It has a rhyme in it that says something like... what is it? It’s a really good line. He got struck by a bullet and he melted into fluid. I like the way “bullet” and “fluid” rhyme. It just sounds right (laughs).

How about the others?

Subbacultcha. We said that one though didn’t we. Palace of the Brine.

What’s that one about?

You know Salt Lake? It’s a salt lake near (laughs) Salt Lake City? There are these little briny shrimp. Supposably nothing can live in the lake because it is so salty, but these little briny shrimp do.

The words are cute now, and it’s such a lame thing to sing about, but he makes it all make sense. He says something about, um... wait, let me think of it. (She sings again) In a place that they say is dead, in a land... something, something, I count about a million heads. All the time, there’s a motion.

There’s a place and these little briny shrimp swimming around, which I think is funny.

Do you like the new songs?

yeah, yeah. They’re fun to play. Wait, there’s more. Planet of Sound, that’s new. That’s going to be on the album, right. Head On, the Jesus and Mary Chain song. that’s going to be on the album.

You’re not renowned for doing covers are you? Are you ever likely to do more?

I don’t know. If a good one comes around that he want to sing, yeah.

What are the Breeders' up to?

We’re going to record an EP. The EP will probably be mine, though. Then Tanya will have an album.

Are you still writing stuff for that?

Yeah. The EP’s...

All yours?

Yeah. I want to do a cover version though. Of a Who song, So Sad About Us. It’s an old Who song, off A Quick One or Who Sell Out... I forget.

How about the new Pixies’ stuff. Did you write any of that?

No.

You wrote the lyrics for Gigantic though, didn’t you. Nothing else?

Silver, you know. Per Silver. And that’s it.

So this is a very short tour?

Yeah, it’s only like five weeks long. But we’ve added an extra week, so I guess it;s six weeks altogether.

What did you think of the Crystal Palace gig? Were you playing to a lake?

Boy! that’s weird. It sure was but nobody mentioned it. But did you see the guy jump into the water?

Certainly did.

During Where is My Mind. Very funny wasn’t it?

Very appropriate.

It was, wasn’t it (laughs). And did you see them bring out that plastic blanket?

Yeah, was that for him?

No. I thought it was.  I thought, Boy these guys are really weird, they’re going to actually wrap that man in a plastic bag or something. But the monitors were getting a bit wet from the drizzle, so they just needed something to keep the wet from the top monitors.

What was it like playing to an audience that were miles away on the horizon?

It was weird. I went out and saw Ride. I stood by the soundboard, and they were, like, this big (makes very small finger and thumb gesture).

Well, you were that big on stage as well!

Yeah, yeah. This pub was louder than the show [This wasn’t a very loud pub at all - AB]. And almost the music... you know...

Could you hear the audience response?

No, no. We would finish the song and it would be just... dead silence! A couple of times we could hear some clapping. But it was weird, it was really weird. But it was written up in the papers that it was really good, which was really weird. [That weird, huh? - GB]

But the press were down the side?

So maybe they heard it, yeah. But I know some people who stood there who said that the sound was really bad, and all you could hear was the bass and the kick drum, you know. But it was definitely louder than standing out front.

The bloke who did manage to swim across the lake - what did he do when he got to the stage?

He just, like, gave up, you know. That was the point, it was great! The water was only, like, this high (intimates a couple of feet).

You said earlier [before the taped interview] that you’d never heard of some of the bootleg LPs.

Yeah, I didn’t know they were on vinyl. I’ve seen them at.. um... Camden Market. You know, cassettes. And I didn’t know they had little names like [checking the copy of RAMS#1 I had with me] “A Fantastic Live Act” (laughs).

That’s great!

What do you think about things like that? Do you think they are ripping you off?

No, not at all. I guess if one got that they were selling a lot it would bother me. But...

Well, do you feel proud that someone’s bothered to do it.

Yeah, yeah. In a way. If there is a demand for it, yeah. I’d like to her some of them.

What do you think of Rock A My Soul?

Oh, it’s great! Exhaustive research. It has everything in it.

And fun and games to play on the back [reprinted elsewhere in this omnibus - GB]. I haven’t played them yet. Let me see if I can find my way home.

[A few second pass as kim starts to solve the “Poor Kim is Drunk, Help Her Home!” maze on the back of RAMS#1]

It’s nice that you guys gave me a few breaks in it, in case it got too hard. Ah, ah, uh, no!

See! You’re pissed now! You can’t find your way!

(Laughs) Oh, I found my way home! Do you have any scissors? I’ll cut out Joe’s clothes and put them on him.

You’ve got to colour them in first!

(Laughs).

So tell me about the David Bowie thing. He kept saying, from about 1989 onwards, that he wants to do something with you.

1989, huh? This is 1991, right? We played those shows with him at the end of ‘90, and he was talking about us in ‘89, huh?

I didn’t know this until last year. We heard him say something on MTV. Something like: we’re going to be the Talking Heads of the ‘90s (she pulls a disgusted face).

You don’t like the sound of that?

If David Bowie says that’s what we got to be, does that mean we have to be? Can we choose not to do that?

Has he ever made any approaches to you? Have you met?

Yeah, we’ve met. We met him when we played with him in Schuttorf and Ulm [early September, 1990] and when we were in Manchester, he played at Maine Road with his Sound and Vision Tour, and we were able to go backstage in the dressingroom area, and we saw him before he played, and we gave him nice seats.

The night before, our tour manager arranged for us to meet up at an Indian restaurant. So we had Indian food with him. David and Joe still don’t know what he had... the shrimp I think. It was weird.

He’s never asked you to record with him or anything?

No, no, no, no, no, no!

Or do any gigs together?

Other than the two German ones, no. He doesn’t tour really. Weird, huh? He’s a nice guy. After the Indian restaurant, everyone went to his hotel room, but I ended up staying in the bathroom too long and I got lost, an they left me.

They all got to go back to David Bowie’s hotel room and listened to the new Tin Machine album.

And you were still locked in the bathroom?

I just went to pee. it was like two minutes, and everyone left me. But anyway, I asked Joe if he liked it, and he had a good answer for it. I think he said this once, but he said, “Joe, I don’t know. But at that time, with David Bowie in the room, sitting listening to the new Tin Machine album, yeah, I liked it.” Which is really funny (laughs), but I don’t know if it’s any good.

You guys like Tin Machine.

Yeah [Understatement. Andy in Bowie mad - GB]

I never even heard it. I remember the videos, because they were so weird. All those kids jumping off and on.

You've done some strange gigs in your time, haven't you? I read about one where you were only separated from the audience with a piece of string.

Which one was that?

I’m not sure. Yugoslavia or somewhere.

Uh, I dunno. there was one really weird one in Birmingham at Burburries Disco. That was really weird. We had to get a large load of crew to hold the PA up, because the stage was getting smaller and smaller and smaller. And the pit was rocking. And we were like this high off the ground (demonstrates about a foot), and this far from the crowd (another foot).

But that was a great one. That was good. With Throwing Muses.

What do you think of the places you’re playing this time, like G-Mex and Crystal Place?

It’s weird. It’s funny, you get really nervous because there’s so many goddam people. But it’s really weird.

You rehearsed in Scarborough?

Yeah, that was nice.

I heard you did a gig up there at the Futurist.

The Futurist, yeah. It’s right on the beach. Not many people came. It was announced, like, two days before, so it was alright I think. I don’t know. But the Futurist is right on the beach, so that was nice. Every day.

Somebody told me they saw you and Black walking along the beach on blazing sunshine with leather jackets and shades on.

No. I didn’t walk along the beach with Black, not in Scarborough.

Where’s home for you? Where do you live?

I live in Ohio with my sister. Joe doesn’t live anywhere now, he has to pick out a place. And David lives in LA, and Charles lives in LA.

I bet Joe ends up moving to LA. But you can’t just say you live somewhere - you have to actually... live there! For a little bit anyway, right?

What does your sister do?

She’s the one who got me interested in music in the first place. She came home from a drive-in movie and she was on acid and she had seen this Led Zeppelin film, The Song Remains the Same.

So I was standing talking to her in the backyard smoking a cigarette when you’re not supposed to. And she told me about this movie, and it was really interesting. So we decided that we were going to be rock stars and sing, and be just like in the movie.

I haven’t seen it yet.

Is it true what they say about the Rock ‘n’ Roll lifestyle. Loads of drugs?

Druugs! No, I don’t know, I guess there are. But there were drugs before I was in a rock band, you know. Rock music is always around, but I wasn’t always in the band. I’m sure there’s a connection there...

It depends on what it is. I smoke pot, I like hash.

Have you ever done any acid?

Yeah.

Ever done any while you’re playing?

No. I don’t even smoke pot before we play, I never have. I drink too much, but I don’t smoke before we play. I get too weird, you know.

Do you like coming to England?

Yeah, yeah.

What do you like about it?

(Long silence)

...Or where you just being polite?

(Laughs) The weather, the weather is beautiful. Usually because we’re on tour, and it’s fun and exciting. People buy me a beer and tape whatever I say, which I like. Which is fun (laughs).

In America, they don’t know who the Pixies are really. They do, but... well, you know what I mean. And especially in Ohio. They know who Wilson Phillips are, but they don’t know who the Pixies are. They know who REM are, but they have never heard of the Butthole Surfers.

You did a hell of a lot of gigs to support Doolittle.

God! It was like 129 shows or 149 shows. It was so many, it was so many. It was fucking way to many. God! That’s all we did that year! Every single goddam night. But it was good, because we went to a lot of places that we’d never been and we thoroughly covered Europe.

Did you make lots of money?

No. we don’t make lots of money. You don’t make lots of money touring unless you’re Michael Jackson or somebody huge.

The only way bands like us, or maybe the Inspiral Carpets or, like, The Muses or something like that, makes money is on T-shirt money.

We signed a deal. Do you think our T-shirts are too expensive?

Maybe.

Really?

Well, places like the Academy take 25% don’t they?

Yeah, and we’re not selling them. A T-shirt company named Broncum(?) is selling them. they gave us an advance to sell T-shirts and we signed it. They gave us the money up front and it’s their job to get it back, so they set the price.

What’s the new Breeders’ stuff going to be like? Is it much the same?

Uh... let me see. I have one of them in the bus. One of them is called Safari, one’s called... um, I don’t know, that’s a stupid name. I might not call it that. Forget it!

And there’s another one. I don’t know. I keep telling Ivo at 4AD that I’ve got four, but I’ve really got three... so I’ve got to think of another one.

Let’s make one up now (laughs) Um... could I have another cigarette?

Who’s going to be on the new Breeders’ stuff? Is it the same line-up?

Yeah. Really, my sister, will probably sing harmonies with us too, probably. We probably won’t get Bert to drum again. The guy who drums with Spiritualised did one of the songs, Safari. But I don’t know if I could get him.

There’s a band called Bullet Le Lolita(?), have you heard of them? They have a drummer whose name is Todd, and he’s a really nice guy. He did a really neat kind of Keith Moon-y type fill on one of the songs I heard in Bullet Le Volta, so maybe he could play on So Sad About Us. But wouldn’t it be queer to get somebody to play like Keith Moon, because that would be really horrible, because they couldn’t.

Does Kelley ever write songs?

Yeah. She’s written a couple of songs.

Has she written any of the new material?

Oh, has she written any of the new stuff? Oh no, Josephine gave me a tape of stuff that she had written. I’ve listened to it once, months ago, but I haven’t listened to it since then.

If you had to jack one in, would you stay with the Pixies or Breeders?

If I had to pick one? Oh, Pixies probably. I’m not a quitter.

Why did you decide to get involved in the Breeders?

To sing more. To sing.

You don’t think you get enough chance to sing with the Pixies?

Probably, I do. Nowadays, it seems I sing too much during the shows, because every time I sing I have to put this earplug in my ear, so I can hear the parts - because I usually sing harmony, you know, so you have to actually hear the notes instead of screaming - you know what I mean?

How come you haven’t been playing Gigantic, because that’s your big chance to have a go?

I don’t give a shit! We played it every single time before. We’re not doing Isla de [Encanta], which I really like to play, also because on the last tour we did it every single night. We’ve done Gigantic every single night except for this tour. And it’s a nice break it is.

Anything you’d like to tell us?

[She looks back to RAMS#1] Are you guys going to be doing little cartoons of David or Charles in the next one, you know, a cartoon or puzzle?

We’d like to.

Oh, what does this mean “Just like Bunty”?

Bunty’s a girl’s magazine for six or seven year olds. You get pictures of pop stars and little clothes to put on them [Not in my day - GB].

Oh, do you really? Have you ever heard of a magazine called Sassy? A really good girl magazine. They’re just bitches. It’s really funny, their attitude is so bad. Every issue there is a Cute Band or the Month Alert.

Colour of hair, colour of eyes...

Yeah, and their last one was Buffalo Tom. “Another one of those Boston bands with really only one cute guy. This one’s the drummer. But I definitely advise you to go to the show because their manager is a fox - and you might actually see him there.” That kind of thing.

Has anybody ever tried to do that kind of thing on you yet?

In America teens? Oh no, America teens don’t like us. They don’t understand us at all. They like the big heads in Here Comes Your Man, the video, but they wouldn’t get Debaser or Un Chien Adalusia, no they wouldn’t get it.

Are you surprised that you’re liked in England?

No. I like us.

Because we’re a bunch of eccentrics really, aren’t we?

Yeah. Dirty-minded little sonoffabitches. that’s why you guys like us.

You’ve been propositioned a lot have you?

Er... mainly by journalists. No, not really. I’m lying.

So are you going back to LA to finish the album, or are you doing it as you go around?

We’re doing it as we go around. We went to Paris, and we’re in Blackwing Studio now, in London.

Joe went in today to do some parts, he’s got to go in tomorrow and I’ve got to go in, and it’s still not done. We might do some work in Amsterdam.

Do you like recording, or does it get to be a bit of a drag?

Oh no, I like it. It’s always fun, it’s always great.

How do you go about writing the stuff, or does Black do all that?

He brings in a chord progression. He usually doesn’t bring in anything more than a chord progression, and we’ll just work it out until it sounds like cool music, and then he’ll go home and write something appropriate, what ever he wants to sing about, over the top of it.

So you’ll just work out your parts from there?

Well, yeah. He used to come in with more set ideas about the song and stuff, like there was always a point to them or something. But with Bossanova and this album also, it’s been more, y’know, “Here, this is the song.” And he plays four chords, y’know (laughs).

What sort of things do you listen to, what sort of bands are you into?

I wish I had my little thing here... I’ve been singing that Who song because I like that tape. Teenage Fanclub “Everything Flows”, I like that song. Somebody said that they were the Crowded House of the Indies. Why should they say that? Do you think that’s true?

No.

I don’t think so either. Maybe they are, I don’t know. They played with us in Glasgow. They offered the audience some fruit, dressingroom fruit, “Here! You want and apple? Take a banana!” and they threw all their fruit out into the audience!

That sound like good fun...

Very fruity!

Are the Breeders ever going to do any gigs?

We’re done two. I’ll tell you when [tries to find the gig guide in RAMS#1]... well, it was here a minute ago!

So what’s it like playing live with the Breeders?

Oh, it was weird. I was in the wrong place on the stage... Tanya was on the stage... what the hell was she doing on-stage? That’s where Joe stands!

Everything was different. It was all different. It was really strange. I was scared shitless.

Do you get scared over Pixies gigs?

I used to a lot, but not any more.

You didn’t like the idea of going on-stage with the Breeders?

Oh, I did! When we first started playing again, because we hadn’t played.

Are you going to do it again?

Yeah, yeah. Definitely.

How did the album go down with the general public?

Oh, I don’t know. We did it in, like, ten days, and we didn’t ever wear headphones, which is the natural thing to do in the studio. And the drummer was in a different room and stuff.

It wasn’t radio competitive, but it charted. It was weird.

It sounds better at four o’clock in the morning if you have a hangover. It actually sounds good then, it really does.

What are your favourite Pixies songs?

I like Isla de a lot, and I like Vamos, and I like Levitate Me and I’ve Been Tired. I like the other ones too, but those are my faves... actually my favourite recording is Levitate Me.

On Surfer Rosa, I think I’m the only one that likes Oh My Golly. I really like that song. I like them all. I always liked Cactus. this album is not a good recording or anything, but it’s... you know what I mean. I like Euphrates, I like them all.

On Doolittle, probably I like No. 13 Baby, until Joe’s little guitar comes in at the end. And then I like Debaser a lot. Wave of Mutilation I like, but I don’t like the intro... it was weird, we started it in a weird way, I think.

And then, on Planet of Sound I like Theme from Narc and Build High on that lot...

I don’t know. People kill our b-sides, but we don’t have that bad b-sides... I really like Theme from Narc and I like Build High too.

And look at this! Wave of Mutilation (UK Surf), that’s the b-sides for this, if you know what I mean. That’s not bad. Into the White... that’s a good song isn’t it? That’s not a bad b-side is it? [Christ what have we done to upset her - AB] And Bailey’s Walk... it’s different.

Manta Ray, Weird at My School is a really old song of ours, I’ve always liked that. Dancing the Manta Ray, I thought that was okay. I like it when the bass comes in... doo doo doo, doo doo doo.

Anyway, so we don’t suck on our b-sides. A lot of people would just remix the original song!

You don’t seem to be playing a lot or your surf stuff this time around.

I think we did so many of those, like, that was our set the last time. Of course we’re doing Here Comes Your Man and Monkey Gone to Heaven, because those are bigger audiences. If you agree to play places that size, you should at least agree to play the songs people came to see.

If we were playing at the Mean Fiddler or something like that, then we would play pretty much whatever we wanted. We wouldn’t feel obliged to play the ones we’ve been playing every night for a while.

Can you imagine playing Crystal Palace and not doing any of anybody’s faves? I’ve see shows like that... you know, Van Morrison... fucking hell! He did not play a single song I recognised! I know a couple of them... not everything, but...

I think, generally though, people who go to Pixies shows would know all your stuff.

Yeah, they would. We don’t go for singles and have the rest as album filler. Every song is a filler, you know, in a good way. It has as much importance as every other song on the album.

We never go, “Okay, we’re got two singles. What are we going to do to fill this other blank space? Let’s do something.”

Apart from Planet of Sound, are there any other singles on the album?

No, but then Planet of Sound isn’t a single either. It’s a good song, and I like it that it was released as a single, but do we get to play it on Top of the Pops?.....Nooooo!

Were you asked to play Top of the Pops?

With Velouria we were kind of in the running, but Bananarama got it.

What’s with the idea of the Velouria video? You were running through a quarry in slow motion!

Yeah?

Fucking hell! Whose idea was that?

It’s not worse than any other shit. Just because we didn’t have a ten second drama cut in every ten seconds...

It must have been quite a low budget thing. Did it cost you much to make?

You know the guy who does Snub TV? What’s his name? Pinko. You know what I’m talking about now? He just came up to us in Manchester, where we were rehearsing. There was a quarry there. We had to think of something because everybody was giving us all this shit because we didn’t have a video to go with the single.

I was like, “Oh fuck, sorry. We didn’t get it organised.” It’s so queer, but never mind. For the push you have to have music and you have to have a video now. So, we just gave them something. But we thought it was good... the slow motion thing.

Do you like being with 4AD? Do you like the covers they give you?

Yeah, yeah.

Is that sort of thing you would have done anyway? You leave it all up to Vaughan Oliver.

Yeah, totally. I’m not an artist, I don’t sit around blending colours to seee what kind of output I can get from it. He does that, he lives for that shit.

Don’t you ever want to get your little photographs in there?

No, not at all. If we could do it in a really neat way, maybe. But usually, it’s just a cool band shot and that’s all. And so you flip through albums and you think, stupid, stupid, stupid. If they’re not stupid, they’re just similar, similar, seen that... you know.

So what do you think of the other bands on 4AD?

I like the Pale Saints. They’re getting really weird. They’re on pretty soon... oh, they’ll be on now! You were there last night, weren’t you? They were weird.

Who else is there? I like Lush, I like Cocteau Twins. I’m not a die-hard fan of anything on it.

I like the Muses a lot, actually. I guess the Muses would be my favourite band. Them... except for us (laughs).

They do have that ethereal atmospheric type of band. I went to see Dead Can Dance once. That was an experience! I don’t know their music very well.

Are there any Pixies tracks recorded that have not been released?

Yes, yes. Definitely.

Can you tell me about them?

No. Because we’re trying to work those out, because we’re doing another album straight away. that’ll be more surfier, like Bossanova.

We’ve got a lot of recorded material, kind of like Guns ‘n’ Roses. Not enough to make this album and not enough to make that album.

We’ve got to wait. We’ve done sort of seven eights of this album and two eighths of that album... see what I mean? We’ve done more than and album’s worth of stuff,but not enough for either of them to come out.

the Japanese are filing the show tonight.

Have you toured there?

No, never been there. I guess we have some record out over there...

Pale Saints are popular over there, though. Maybe that’s why we’re getting filmed - coz of the Pale Saints (laughs)!

When’s it going out over there? Is it live or anything?

No, it’s not live. But they’re recording the whole thing on 24 tracks. One of those fucking trucks over there [behind the Academy] has a 24 track studio. Can you believe it?

Seven cameras - three in the pit, right between the barrier, two on the side of the stage moving around and then two near the soundboard. It’s weird, isn’t it?

Reprinted from Rock a My Soul #2